After arriving on the scene for Super Bowl 50 with the flaming Versace skinny jeans seen around the world, the Carolina Panthers quarterback made another riveting fashion statement during his first media appearance Monday night.

Newton wrapped a Super Bowl towel around his head, knotted from behind for a bandana look.

Like the black-and-gold patterned jeans that flamboyant Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, called “must-win pants,” the head dress screamed, Look at me!

No doubt, Newton — with his GQ ensembles, Magic Johnson smile and scintillating talent — embodies a strong non-verbal message of supreme confidence with his style.

Yet the aftermath of the statement Newton made last week — when he declared that his exuberant celebrations, including the “dab,” rubs some people the wrong way because they fear an African-American quarterback — says something else about the iconic entertainer.

Newton, 26, has followed up his bold statement by … backtracking.

Having ignited some serious debate about the hideous perceptions and snap judgments that still permeate through our society, Newton now maintains that it was all a misunderstanding. He’s insisted that his pointed comments were misconstrued, and that it wasn’t about race.

Huh?

“I understood what he was trying to say,” former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kordell Stewart told USA TODAY Sports. “But he said it from an emotional place and wanted people to understand that his style is different than everybody else’s.

“It’s like, ‘Even African-Americans before me didn’t do it like this. I’m going to be me, whether you like it or not.’ But, of course, him saying what he said got him pinned up against the wall.’ “

Stewart, in the media throng as an analyst for a digital content app, TuneIn, can relate to Newton better than most, given his chapter in the history of African-American quarterbacks. To get his shot as Steelers quarterback in the 1990s, Stewart morphed from a wide receiver and “Slash” role.

It’s hardly lost on Stewart that Newton’s presence marks the fourth consecutive Super Bowl with an African-American quarterback, which underscores the opportunities now, compared to, say, the first one I covered, Super Bowl XXII in 1988, when Washington’s Doug Williams became the first African-American quarterback to start in the game.

When Russell Wilson appeared in the past two Super Bowls, and Colin Kaepernick played in the one before that, their stature as African-American quarterbacks was barely a story line.

Newton’s case, though, is about cultural acceptance — and why his “dabbing” and other forms of expression are used as polarizing fuel more than Aaron Rodgers’ discount double-check or Tom Brady’s head-butting ever was.

“Take that style with the smile and swagger, and people think it’s cockiness,” Stewart said, “when all he’s doing is having fun.”

There are surely more critical racial issues to be examined in our society than Newton’s persona. But given the spotlight on the NFL and the manner in which sports has traditionally inspired conversation, if not change, in society, it strikes me as fair game for discussion against the mega-hyped Super Bowl backdrop.

Maybe Newton doesn’t have the stomach to further engage, given the pending challenge against the Denver Broncos. Then again, my guess is that someone with some serious clout within the Panthers hierarchy may have advised Newton to alter his message, given the huge stage of this milestone event.

“The truth of the matter is when they see more of me, I need not have to explain myself,” Newton said Monday. “So I feel as if the more people see and, what am I trying to say, the more that they get me, it becomes easier to digest.”

Maybe so, but I wouldn’t bet on that.

See, deciphering Camspeak is a sport of its own.

Talking about his decision to roll to the Bay Area with his loud (and cool) jeans, he said, “It’s Super Bowl 50. The mantra ... or the colors, are black and gold.”

When someone asked if his maturity on the field is the result of more time spent in the film room, he said, “I can’t necessarily take that type of credit, because I think that would be a crusade answer.”

Say what?

Listen up folks. Newton, who will likely be named the league’s MVP later this week, is a phenomenal athlete who fashions himself as Superman, able to leap across the goal line in a single bound. He’s the emerging face of the NFL, and that down-home tradition of giving away footballs to lucky kids in the stands — and his teammates fashionably following suit — is the type of public relations stroke that Commissioner Roger Goodell and his consultants probably wish they had thought of first.

CLOSE

USA TODAY Sports' Josh Peter compares Newton and Namath, and explains why swagger, bravado and charisma are only the start of similarities between the two QBs.
USA TODAY Sports

And he’s also, as one pundit nailed it, the Yogi Berra of our time.

Face it: Verbal knuckleballs are part of Newton’s package, if not charm.

Some Camspeak dandies from his road to the Super Bowl:

— “Hindsight is always 50/50"

— “Our hands are already full, trying to exonerate the energy for what this week needs to be about”

— “This hiatus that we’re on right now, no one in that locker room wants to come down from”

— “We’ve got to move the pendulum forward”

— “You put a person on a pinnacle and you try to analyze them from so many areas”

Talk about breaking the mold. Newton may be the NFL’s most understood figure in part because some of his statements fly off course like errant sideline passes.

The Panthers, naturally, care more about whether their pampered quarterback can keep ringing up touchdowns.

But the charismatic Newton, who went back to Auburn during recent offseasons to complete requirements for a degree in sociology, needs to know better. Credibility is a good thing. Sure, the scrutiny is intense. Newton knows that, and undoubtedly welcomes that as part of the package of being The Man.

He has a great platform, a pedestal on top of the nation’s most popular sport that will expand with Super Bowl exposure.

Posted!

A link has been posted to your Facebook feed.

The NFC champion Carolina Panthers are headed to Super Bowl 50, their second appearance in franchise history, after a 15-1 regular season and dominant playoff run. Here is one great photo from each of their games.
Bob Donnan, USA TODAY Sports

Week 2 -- Panthers 24, Texans 17: Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (1) leaps over the line of scrimmage for a touchdown during the second half against the Houston Texans at Bank of America Stadium.
Sam Sharpe, USA TODAY Sports